Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Tour de France stars get up close and personal with spectators on the opening stage in Yorkshire but they have complained about fans taking 'selfies' and not paying attention to the risk they pose to the riders.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Although 'selfies' have been the scourge of the cyclists this year round, Cyril Lemoine finds out that cameras aren't the only things they will need to avoid if they want to get through the Tour unscathed.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Two-time champion Alberto Contador takes a 'selfie' with some fans before the start of stage two. The 'selfie' fad is making a big impression on this year's Tour, although it has sparked safety fears among the riders.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – British Prime Minister, David Cameron, gets involved in the 'selfie' trend as he poses with a Tour de France fan.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – The first stage of the tour between Leeds and Harrogate kicked off in style with The Red Arrows of the RAF flying overhead.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Sheep painted yellow in honor of the tour could be seen along the 190.5km route between Leeds and Harrogate.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge inaugurate the opening stage of the Tour by ceremoniously cutting the ribbon in front of the racers.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – The bikes of team Trek Factory Racing stand ready for the first stage of the tour. German racer Jens Voigt's bicycle can be seen with the number 168.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Contador, Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Andre Greipel all stand at the front of the pack waiting for the first stage of the Tour to begin. Cavendish's race ended later that day with a crash in Harrogate.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Veteran racer Voigt led the pack in a breakaway during the first stage of the race which began in Leeds and ended in Harrogate.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – The pack rides up the high street in Haworth, the home of the Bronte sisters, who penned a series of literary masterpieces in the 19th century.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Cavendish had a Grand Depart to forget as he receives medical attention for a fall close to the finish line at the end of stage one.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Marcel Kittel of the Giant-Shimano team celebrates his victory in the first stage of the tour.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – The second stage of the tour took the cyclists on a 201 km race between York and Sheffield. Here we can see stage two winner Vincenzo Nibali attempting to break away from the pack.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Nibali looks back at the peloton behind him as he crosses the finish line to win the 201 km second stage between York and Sheffield and take the yellow jersey.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – As the Tour closes in on London, fans gather in their numbers around Buckingham Palace to catch a glimpse of the cyclists as they cross this landmark en route to the finish line of stage three.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Fans line the streets of London as they prepare to welcome the cyclists on the third stage of the Tour.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Fans gathered at the 'Fan Park' in Green Park look at a giant screen as the 155 km third stage takes place. The third stage began in Cambridge and ended in London.

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Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – The crowds cheer on as the cyclists pass through Parliament Square and the Big Ben on their tour through London.

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Photos:Tour de France: Fearless cyclists face new danger -- selfies

Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Germany's Kittel sprints to his second stage win of the Tour. in commanding style.

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Tour de France: Cyclists and 'Selfies' – Kittel celebrates his success and looks the man to beat in the bunch sprints now Cavendish has exited the race.

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Story highlights

Millions line streets of Britain again for Tour de France

Third stage finishes in London on the Mall

Marcel Kittel of Germany wins his second stage of race

Tour 'selfies' have been a problem for the riders

The Tour de France is arguably the world's toughest event -- but it's just got a whole lot tougher.

One of the few sporting occasions where fans don't pay to watch its stars, one of the Tour's charms has been allowing its followers to get up close and personal. You are literally in touching distance of your heroes.

That's especially true on the arduous climbs in the Pyrenees and the Alps where hundreds of thousands of cycling fanatics line the roads.

But the Tour's three-day visit to Britain has raised a new potential obstacle for the cycling's elite riders -- the selfie.

As an estimated million people lined the narrow roads between Cambridge and London, the near 200-strong peloton were taking extra care to avoid spectators taking the social media craze just a little too far.

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But with most armed with mobile phone cameras, the dangers of individuals taking a shot of themselves but forgetting cyclists were powering past at 45kph per hour only inches away was all too apparent.

Team Sky star Geraint Thomas marveled at the fans supporting him as a home rider, but said the selfish selfie takers were "a giant pain in the arse."

American rider TJ Van Garderen went further and went on Twitter to send out a warning. "A dangerous mix of vanity and stupidity.

"Standing I the middle of the road with you back turned while 200 cyclists come at you, just to take a selfie. .think .TDF2014," he moaned.

Monday's stage saw one of Thomas' teammates, David Lopez, brush shoulders with a fan who was not paying attention, fortunately without serious injury to either party.

Despite being a work day, the crowds were again immense, particularly in the many small towns and villages on the route and in central London with massive fan parks in Green Park and Trafalgar Square.

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Once again most were carrying mobiles or tablet devices but there were no worries about selfies here as the roads around the Olympic Stadium were barriered -- with stewards taking their responsibilities seriously.

Malcolm Smither from Essex had been one of the much lauded Games Makers at the London Olympics, and was using his skills again as an official Tour Maker to usher the crowds to their vantage points and keep their spirits up.

"It's the first time I've been to the Tour de France and I'm very excited," he told CNN.

Fellow Tour Maker Julia Peters, from Portmouth, said it the experience had evoked memories of 2012. "It's very nostalgic for a lot of us and it is great to be back," she said.

Not all the fans were British, Tom Russell, from Ohio, was on holiday and as an avid cycling fan was determined to watch the Tour, "it is such a great atmosphere," he said.

But most at the side of the roadside had little knowledge of professional cycling.

Local resident Sheila Williams had taken her children and grandchildren to watch. "You've got to support them," she said while professing she had never heard of Britain's great cycling hero Bradley Wiggins.

So sure enough as first the breakaway duo of Frenchman Jean-Marc Bideau and Jan Barta of the Czech Republic came flying past, with thousand of cameras capturing the moment, Sheila and her family cheered them to an echo.

About a minute later the main bunch muscled past -- already closing fast on the doomed escapees.

The whole action had taken probably less than two minutes, after which the crowd slowly dispersed, with many them gathering around one of the big TV screens which had been put in place for the Olympics.

They saw Bideau and Barta caught after their heroic 150km effort, sportingly applauding at the moment of the catch.

A few minutes later another burst of applause as Germany's Marcel Kittel powered up the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace to win his second stage of this year's Tour with Italy's Vincenzo Nibali holding on to the race leader's yellow jersey.